BBC dispatches 35 staff to climate talks - creating as much carbon as an African village does in a year

The BBC's environmental analyst Roger Harrabin is expected to be included in the delegation to Copenhagen

The BBC is sending 35 people to next month's climate change talks in Copenhagen - creating as much carbon dioxide as an African village does in a whole year.

The corporation said its delegation of 12 presenters, along with a backup team of researchers, producers and camera crews, will spend up to two weeks in the Danish capital on expenses to cover the global summit.

Critics said the numbers were 'absolutely staggering' and accused the BBC of playing fast and loose with licence payers' money.

If all 35 BBC staff go by plane, they will generate around six or seven tons of carbon dioxide.

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The BBC delegation is expected to include the corporation's environment analyst Roger Harrabin along with a team of science and environment reporters.

Political editor Nick Robinson may also attend, given the expected presence of Gordon Brown, while the BBC is considering presenting the Ten O'Clock News live from the summit at some point during the fortnight.

Next month's United Nations talks were intended to create a new global climate treaty that would commit developed and developing countries to cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Without a deal, most scientists and environmentalists say the world is heading for a 'dangerous' rise in global temperatures of between 2c and 6c by the end of the century.

However, world leaders now concede there is not enough time to get a formal treaty in place, and that another climate summit will be needed next year.

Earlier this month the BBC came under fire for spending £20million on an army of advisers, strategists and 'decision makers' at a time when programme makers were facing fierce budget cuts.

A spokesman for the BBC defended its decision to send such a large team to Copenhagen.

A small Kenyan village creates seven tonnes of carbon a year, the same amount expected to be generated by the BBC's delegation

'The BBC will provide in-depth multimedia coverage across a wide range of outlets, including the main network news bulletins, BBC Breakfast, the BBC News channel, BBC World News, BBC Radio including Five Live and Radio Four, and the BBC News website,' he said.

'The Copenhagen conference is a major global news story and we will deploy 12 on-air presenters and reporters, supported by 23 producers, camera operators, engineers in total.

They will be phased over the course of the ten-day event - and won't all be there at the same time.'

However, he refused to say how much the corporation was spending on the talks or how many of its staff would be going to the capital by plane.

The Government has yet to announce how many people it is sending to Copenhagen. Mr Brown has promised to go, along with Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband.

One insider said: 'It's a standing joke here that the BBC will have more people there than the Government. On the last summit we sent around 30 people.'

In contrast to the BBC's delegation, Greenpeace is sending just two people from the UK, while Friends of the Earth pans to send 12.

Susie Squire, of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'It's unnecessary for the BBC to send so many people - and hypocritical.

It's out of touch with what most licence fee payers are thinking. After the scandal about BBC waste, you'd think they would be tightening their belts.'

Six to seven tons of carbon dioxide is equal to the carbon footprint of 18 Kenyans for one year.